From October 26th to October 28th I went on my college marching band trip to St. Louis, MO. A lot of the time traveling can be one of the biggest opportunities to produce more waste than usual. It's also a big opportunity to produce less waste and have a lower impact than usual. If you prepare the right way, and are conscious while traveling, a low impact (and plastic free!) trip will be easily obtainable. For days One and Two, check out this blog post. Day three: The Dome Day three was our performance at The Dome at America's Center. We were relying on the Dome concessions to give us both lunch and dinner. I was a little nervous about that, because I was picturing plastic and dairy, so I brought all my snacks as a backup. The fries came in a paper cup, and the cup was not waxy, meaning that it could be recycled/breaks down easier. I was definitely excited to have found a way around the plastics and Styrofoam that most concessions use. I even noticed that the nachos and pizzas came in paper-like containers as well, instead of their normal plastic. For dinner I had one of their veggie burgers and another fountain drink. I was definitely glad and surprised that they had options for me. Day four: Going Home On day four, the day we left, I got up to eat breakfast at the hotel. When I got there, they had plastic plates out instead of the real ones,
Breakfast was a little discouraging, but I knew the rest of the day would be fine. We stopped at the same mall for a lunch/dinner, so I got Moe's and a Coca-Cola Freestyle drink again. This time, however, we spotted a little stand with bulk candy. They had paper bags to put the candy in, and weighed it by pound. I love sour candies, and it's hard to find them plastic free, so we got some candy. I didn't get a picture because my hands were holding a bunch of stuff. ThoughtsI was definitely excited that the only plastic I used this trip was three plates, two utensils, and one tiny spoon. I also am not that excited, because I was really hoping I would go without any plastic. I know that the plastic I used was for the most part unavoidable, but I also know that I can do better next trip. The next trip I go on, I will have a little more control over where I eat, and honestly I might bring my own reusable plate for hotel breakfast's. All in all, it was a fun and successful trip. I spent a lot of time with my friends and we got to not worry about school for four days. Back to the topic of low-impact living, without bringing things and preparing ahead of time, I would have used more plastics than I did. It doesn't take much time or money to get things to take with you when you travel. I'm sure most homes have containers and to go tumblers. You can bring metal silverware, but I usually go with plastic so that security checks will be easier than carrying a metal fork and knife. If you don't have reusable straws, they are usually cheap, or you could just get one plastic straw and reuse it for as long as you can. Being low-impact while traveling doesn't have to be hard or expensive. It just takes planning and asking people questions when you're out and about. I hope these two posts help you see what you can do on your travels to be conscious about your impact on the Earth. If you have any questions, feel free to comment them.
Happy traveling!
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From October 26th to October 28th I went on my college marching band trip to St. Louis, MO. A lot of the time traveling can be one of the biggest opportunities to produce more waste than usual. It's also a big opportunity to produce less waste and have a lower impact than usual. If you prepare the right way, and are conscious while traveling, a low impact (and plastic free!) trip will be easily obtainable. Preparation One of the biggest things to creating a low impact trip is preparing for it. The biggest dilemma of single use plastics is food. Candy, snacks, restaurants, and more could potentially come with plastic if you aren't familiar with the brand/company. Here’s what I packed in my bag to prepare for a plastic free, low impact, St. Louis All of these things I stored in my backpack for on the bus. The Stasher bags and paper bag hold snacks that I got at my local health food store, which has a bulk section. The big empty container is for leftovers at restaurants. I absolutely love my Patagonia foldable bag, and carry it around with me on all my trips. It's perfect to put in my backpack, then unfold and stash stuff in it to leave the bus/hotel and walk around. The things unlisted are my Vaseline lip balm, two Endangered species chocolate bars (paper and foil for the packaging), and a oil roll-on for face moisture and cuts. Not pictured is my gigantic water bottle I carry around, and the utensils that are inside of the case. Day One: travel
I live in on campus at a smaller university. Here's how I live a low-impact life while at college. Housing I live in a single dorm room, but I do share a bathroom with one other person adjacent to me. In my room specifically, I try to turn off all lights when I can, but I do leave a fan running, because my cat lives with me and the smell of cat lingers more if I don't have the fan running. I wish I could open a window, but she has bad allergies, so I only get to open the window once in a while. For lighting, I open the blinds during the day, and use one lamp at night to light the room, instead of the giant fluorescent light in my ceiling. For cleaning, my toiletries, food storage, and more, I use the typical run-of-the-mill plastic free/low-impact replacements. Food I don't eat animal products, but thankfully there is a vegan station in the upstairs caf, where I can eat on reusable plates, utensils, and cups. This is my preferred place of eating. The downstairs area of the caf gets a little tricky. Whenever I go to Starbucks, I make sure to bring my reusable cup, or buy a glass bottle of Teavana. The only other two places I eat are Moe's or Which Wich, because they have vegan and plastic free options. I get my sandwhich at Which Wich wrapped in foil and put in a paper bag. At Moe's I typically get a burrito, because ordering anything else means they will put your food in a plastic container. A burrito guarantees foil and a paper bag as well. I know I can also go to Freshen's and get a smoothie in my own cup, but I rarely ever do. Because I am not in control of making my own food, I unfortunately do not have much access to locally grown foods. The other options in the downstairs caf include Chick-fil-a (which I can't eat and uses Styrofoam for their cups), Panda Express (there are no meat free options for an entree at Panda, and the food comes in either plastic or Styrofoam), and an Aramark run Comfort Corner, which has different kinds of stuff, but it is hard to tell what food I can eat. Transportation Most of my classes are in walking distance, but for anything else on campus I use the campus-run CatTrans, which have routes all over campus. I use the CatTrans to go to one of my classes a couple miles across the four lane, to my car if I had to park far away, or to marching band practice. I am definitely glad for the use of public transportation so that I do not have to walk or drive. For off campus things, I usually try to grab a ride, but I do have a car on campus to drive to teach marching band at the local high school, or run out to the store when no one can take me. I try to use my car as little as possible. Classes For notes, I use the RocketBook Everlast, so that I can keep reusing one notebook, and not waste trees while I do so. I do have manuscript paper I uses sometimes, but I do not use that all the time. If I ever have to turn in something I write in class, I usually write it in my recycled-paper notebook. I really want an iPad Pro and Apple pen to take notes on OneNote, but we will have to see about that, because I am still on the fence about it. Thoughts I personally find it easy and simple to live a low-impact lifestyle in college. I don't have to drive every day, which cuts down a lot of carbon emissions. I may not be in control of where my food comes from, but I can choose to eat the things that produce either zero waste, or plastic free waste. Plus most of my food is made in bulk which also cuts down on waste and emissions. I know there is always room for improvement though, and am constantly figuring out ways to cut down my footprint and plastics. Some of my biggest problems are shower time, laundry, and my cat's litter/food. When I do drive, my car is not the best for the environment, however, I am trying to save up for an electric car one day within the next 5 years. Even though I am not in charge of my food, I'd like to contribute more to local farmers and their products. I also am trying to buy as little as I possibly need, and trying to buy second hand as often as I can. These are just some of the things I do on a daily basis to live a low-impact life. I know we all can be on the path to a low-impact life as soon as we start making conscious changes in our everyday life.
Coming soon is a two-blog post about my band trip to St. Louis, Missouri and how I travel with as low of an impact as possible! I live in a small town, where the public transportation is limited. There are a few transit vans that run in the county, but you must schedule your rides in advance during certain hours. If you want to go anywhere out of county, you have to schedule one week in advance. There is a trolley that has a continuous route, but the entire route takes one hour, and the website does not say how many trolleys are on route. Anyways, you get my point. There is not a reliable and feasible way for me to use public transportation in order to cut down on my carbon footprint. I am saving up for a fully electric car one day, but for now I have to drive my 2002 Chevy Blazer. There are other ways and things to do to reduce your carbon footprint that don't have anything to do with cars. If you are in my situation, with little to no public transportation available, then here are some tips and tricks to reducing your personal carbon footprint. Buy Secondhand In today's culture we like to buy stuff. In fact, a lot of people won't buy anything secondhand or used because they feel some sort of pride in buying something new. Buying secondhand, however, is one of the most eco-friendly thing you can do. It takes energy to make things. It takes carbon to run factories and equipment. But if you buy secondhand, you are not using up any carbon or non-renewable resources that you would have if you bought something new. Check out Trash is for Tosser's post for more, here. Use and buy less plastic It takes carbon to make things, and it for sure takes carbon to make plastic. Anything plastic you see has used gallons of clean water, and carbon. If we use less plastic, not only will it help our oceans and sea creatures, but we will be using less carbon as a result. For more, check out this small factoid on plastic bags and bottles. Hang some clothes up to dry Line drying your clothes and sheets will save a lot of carbon per year. Even if you only line dry (or hang up your clothes to dry) half of your clothes, you will be saving a lot of carbon. Take a shorter shower Shortening your shower time by 1 minute can save up to 23kg of CO2 a year, according to this article. Buy and eat locally, and in season By buying your food locally, you will not only be helping out your fellow citizens, but you will also be reducing your carbon footprint. Local foods use less carbon because they do not have to be shipped to your location. Also, if you are in the grocery store, do not buy fruits or vegetables that are not in season, or are from far away. They were most likely flown in, causing a lot of carbon to be used. There are a lot of ways to reduce your carbon footprint besides personal transportation. Here is a great website you can use as a tool to help you understand carbon footprints, how to reduce or offset them, and how you can make an impact. I would definitely recommend checking it out. Transportation is a still huge part of carbon emissions and I would also recommend you try to reduce transportation emissions by carpooling, flying less, or saving up for an electric/hybrid car when you can. If you can't, then that is okay because there are other ways to reduce emissions. Happy reducing!
You might be wondering how you can start living your life with the Earth in mind. It’s most likely overwhelming. Refusing plastics, eating more sustainably, solar power, carbon footprints, emissions, global warming... where do you start? How do you get to a place where you are creating a lower impact on our planet? 1. It’s going to take time, and you won’t be perfect.work If living low-impact was easy and quick, we’d probably all have made the switch by now. But it’s not. It will take time for you to switch out your habits and thoughts. If you chose to start replacing every single use plastic in your bathroom right now, you will be wasting the product that those plastics had in them. Wait for things to run out before you replace. Mistakes will happen, and you won't be perfect. You might forget to ask the waiter for no straw, and your drink comes out with a straw in it. No one is perfect, and mistakes are completely understandable. As long as you keep with it, understand that you’re not going to be perfect, and keep a conscious effort, you will do just fine. 2. Start by recognizing how much waste you produceokay Go a couple of days noticing how you live your life. Notice how much single-use plastic you use. How much meat do you eat? Notice how much Styrofoam you use. Do you leave the lights on when you leave a room? Do you put plastic in the nearest bin, or do you hold on to it until you can find a recycling bin? Start by noticing your habits, so that you know which ones to fix, and which ones to keep improving upon. You might be surprised at how much you are doing already, or you could be surprised at how far you have to go.
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December 2018
Ally
Just looking out for the Earth and everyone who lives on it. |